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History of Military technology
Military history is a within the scope of recording of in the , and its impact on the societies, cultures and economies thereof, as well as the resulting changes to and hips. Professional historians normally focus on military affairs that had a major impact on the societies involved as well as the aftermath of conflicts. The essential subjects of military history study are the causes of war, the social and cultural foundations, , the logistics, leadership, technology, , and used, and how these changed over time. As an applied field, military history has been studied at academies and service schools because the seeks to not repeat past mistakes. An important recent concept is the (RMA) which attempts to explain how warfare has been shaped by emerging technologies, such as gunpowder. It highlights the short bursts of rapid change followed by periods of relative stability. Early historians The documentation of military history begins with the confrontation between Sumer (current ) and Elam (current ) c. 2700 BC near the modern . Other prominent records in military history are the in 's (though its has been challenged), by (484 BC – 425 BC) who is often called the "father of history". Next was whose impartiality, despite being an , allowed him to take advantage of his exile to research the war from different perspectives by carefully examining documents and interviewing eyewitnesses. An approach centered on the analysis of a leader was taken by (430 BC – 355 BC) in , recording the expedition of into . The records of the Roman (100 BC – 44 BC) enable a comparative approach for such as and . Technological evolution and , and would recognize the combat that our soldiers and Marines have waged in the alleys of Somalia and Iraq. The uniforms evolve, bronze gives way to titanium, arrows may be replaced by laser-guided bombs, but the heart of the matter is still killing your enemies until any survivors surrender and do your will.| }} located in fighting at the on a .}} Ancient era s originated around 2000 BC. The chariot was an effective, fast weapon; while one man controlled the maneuvering of the chariot, a second bowman could shoot arrows at enemy soldiers. These became crucial to the maintenance of several governments, including the and the and the nation states of early to mid . Some of the military unit types and technologies which were developed in the ancient world are: * * * * * * * For settled agrarian civilizations, the infantry became the core of military action. The infantry started as opposing armed groups of soldiers underneath commanders. The and early Romans used rigid, heavily armed . The Macedonians and Hellenistic states would adopt phalanx formations with pikemen. The would later adopt more flexible from their neighbors which made them extremely successful in the field of battle. The kingdoms of the in East Asia also adopted infantry combat, a transition from chariot warfare from centuries earlier. were a major component of many ancient armies, notably those of the Persians, Scythians, Egyptians, Nubians, Indians, Koreans, Chinese, and Japanese. became an important tool. In the , led by Athens in an attempt to subdue , the well-trained Syracusan cavalry became crucial to the success of the Syracusans. ian effectively deployed his cavalry forces to secure victories. In battles such as the of the , and the of the , the importance of the cavalry would be repeated. There were also s, who had the ability to shoot on horseback – the , , , and other various steppe people were especially fearsome with this tactic. By the 3rd–4th century AD, became widely adopted by the Parthians, , , and , etc. The early developed the use of in warfare. The was later invented in India and soon adopted by the . s were sometimes deployed for fighting in ancient warfare. They were first used in India and later adopted by the Persians. War elephants were also used in the , and by in the against the Romans. }} was often crucial to military success. Early navies used sailing ships without cannons; often the goal was to ram the enemy ships and cause them to sink. There was human oar power, often using slaves, built up to ramming speed. s were used in the by the . The Greeks later advanced these ships. In 1210 BC, the first recorded naval battle was fought between , king of the , and , which was defeated. In the , the navy became of increasing importance. s were involved in more complicated sea-land operations. helped to build up a stronger Greek navy, composed of 310 ships, and defeated the Persians at the , ending the Persian invasion of Greece. In the , the war between and Rome started with an advantage to Carthage because of their naval experience. A Roman fleet was built in 261 BC, with the addition of the that allowed Roman soldiers on board the ships to board the enemy ships. The bridge would prove effective at the , resulting in a Roman victory. The , in the 8th century AD, invented a ship propelled by oars with a dragon decorating the prow, hence called the . The 12th century AD invented ships with watertight bulk head compartments while the 2nd century BC invented rudders and sculled oars for their warships. s are important in warfare. Early s were used to protect inhabitants in the . They were primitive forts surrounded by ditches filled with water. Forts were then built out of mud bricks, stones, wood, and other available materials. Romans used rectangular fortresses built out of wood and stone. As long as there have been fortifications, there have been contraptions to break in, dating back to the times of and earlier. is often necessary to capture forts. Middle-ages boarding ships in 1281}} Some of the military unit types and technologies which were used in the medieval period are: * * * * * * * * * (see also: ) * * * * * and were often used by combatants. Egyptians shot arrows from chariots effectively. The was developed around 500 BC in China, and was used a lot in the . The English/Welsh from the 12th century also became important in the Middle Ages. It helped to give the English a large early advantage in the , even though the English were eventually defeated. The and the are excellent examples of how to destroy an enemy using a longbow. It dominated battlefields for over a century. The rise of gunpowder -era cannon}} In the 10th century, the invention of gunpowder led to many new weapons that were improved over time. was used in China since the 4th century, but it was not used as a weapon until the 11th century. Until the mid-15th century, guns were held in one hand, while the was ignited by the other hand. Then came the , which was used widely until around the 1720s. made drawings of the which made its own sparks. Eventually, the matchlock was replaced by the . s were first used in Europe in the early 14th century, and played a vital role in the . The first cannons were simply welded metal bars in the form of a cylinder, and the first cannonballs were made of stone. By 1346, at the Battle of Crécy, the cannon had been used; at the they would be used again. At the beginning of the 16th century, the first European s were used. Ships were filled with flammable materials, set on fire, and sent to enemy lines. This tactic was successfully used by to scatter the at the Battle of , and would later be used by the Chinese, Russians, Greeks, and several other countries in naval battles. were invented in the 17th century, though they were not used in great numbers until the . They were used heavily in the and Second World Wars. Air-deployed naval mines were used to mine the port of during the . The of used naval mines extensively during the , as part of the . The first navigable was built in 1624 by , it could cruise at a depth of 15 feet (5 m). However, the first military submarine was constructed in 1885 by . The was developed by during the . then improved the submarine design by creating the . firing a shell.}} The , a type of , was developed in the 17th century to fire high trajectory explosive shells at targets that could not be reached by flat trajectory projectiles. Organizational changes resulting in better training and intercommunication, made the concept possible, allowing the use of infantry, cavalry, and in a coordinated way. Bayonets also became of wide usage to infantry soldiers. is named after , France where it was first manufactured in the 16th century. It is used often in infantry charges to fight in hand-to-hand combat. General introduced the bayonet to the French army. They were used heavily in the , and continued to be used in modern wars like the . were first used in warfare at the end of the 18th century. It was first introduced in Paris of 1783; the first balloon traveled over 5 miles (8 km). Previously military could only see from high points on the ground, or from the mast of a ship. Now they could be high in the sky, signalling to troops on the ground. This made it much more difficult for troop movements to go unobserved. At the end of the 18th century, iron-cased s were successfully used militarily in India against the British by of the during the . Rockets were generally inaccurate at that time, though , in 1844, was able to develop a better rocket. The new rocket no longer needed the , and had a higher accuracy. In the 1860s there were a series of advancements in s. The first was designed in 1860 by a company bought out by , which made new and improved versions. s arrived in the mid-19th century also. s arrived in the late 19th century. s and s first arrived at the beginning of the 20th century. In the later part of the 19th century, the self-propelled was developed. The was the world's first torpedo boat. Modern technologies At the start of the World Wars, various nations had developed weapons that were a surprise to their adversaries, leading to a need to learn from this, and alter how to combat them. s were first used in the First World War. The French were the first to introduce the in 1902. Then in 1918, the British produced the first . Many early s were proof of concept but impractical until further development. In World War I, the British and French held a crucial advantage due to their superiority in tanks; the Germans had only a few dozen A7V tanks, as well as 170 captured tanks. The British and French both had several hundred each. The French tanks included the 13 ton , with a 75 mm gun, and the British had the and tanks. On December 17, 1903, the performed the first controlled, powered, heavier-than-air flight; it went 39 meters (120 ft). In 1907, the first flew, but it wasn't practical for usage. became important in World War I, in which several gained fame. In 1911 an aircraft took off from a warship for the first time. Landings on a cruiser were another matter. This led to the development of an with a decent unobstructed flight deck. exploded into the public consciousness in World War I but may have been used in earlier wars without as much human attention. The Germans used gas-filled shells at the on January 3, 1915. These were not lethal, however. In April 1915, the Germans developed a chlorine gas that was highly lethal, and used it to moderate effect at the . Gas masks were invented in matter of weeks, and poison gas proved ineffective at winning battles. It was made illegal by all nations in the 1920s. World War II gave rise to even more technology. The worth of the aircraft carrier was proved in the battles between the United States and Japan like the . was independently invented by the and . It used s to detect objects. s were invented by General Franco in the Spanish Civil War, directing the Nationalists to use them against Soviet tanks in the assault on Toledo. The was developed by the and in 1945, quickly ending World War II. During the , the main powers engaged in a . In the , both nations attempted to launch human beings into space to the moon. Other technological advances centered on intelligence (like the ) and missiles ( s, s). , invented in 1955. This meant submarines no longer had to surface as often, and could run more quietly. They evolved into becoming underwater missile platforms. Periods of military history The influence of technology on military history, and evident Eurocentrism are nowhere more pronounced than in the attempt by the military historians to divide their subject area into more manageable of analysis. While general discipline of history subdivides history into Ancient history (Classical antiquity), Middle Ages (Europe, 4th century – 15th century), Early Modern period (Europe, 14th century – 18th century), Modern era (Europe, 18th century – 20th century), and the Post-Modern (USA, 1949–present), the periodisation below stresses technological change in its emphasis, particularly the crucial dramatic change during the Gunpowder warfare period. Periodisation is not uniformly applied through time and space, affirming the claims of Eurocentrism from regional historians. For example, what might be described as is still practised in a few parts of the world. Other eras that are distinct in European history, such as the era of , may have little relevance in East Asia. Ancient warfare Much of what we know of is the history of militaries: their conquests, their movements, and their technological innovations. There are many reasons for this. Kingdoms and empires, the central units of control in the ancient world, could only be maintained through military force. Due to limited agricultural ability, there were relatively few areas that could support large communities, so fighting was common. s and , designed to be sturdy, tended to last longer than other artifacts, and thus a great deal of surviving artifacts recovered tend to fall in this category as they are more likely to survive. Weapons and armor were also mass-produced to a scale that makes them quite plentiful throughout history, and thus more likely to be found in archaeological digs. Such items were also considered signs of prosperity or virtue, and thus were likely to be placed in tombs and monuments to prominent warriors. And writing, when it existed, was often used for kings to boast of military conquests or victories. Writing, when used by the common man, also tended to record such events, as major battles and conquests constituted major events that many would have considered worthy of recording either in an epic such as the writings pertaining to the Trojan War, or even personal writings. Indeed, the earliest stories center on warfare, as war was both a common and dramatic aspect of life; the witnessing of a major battle involving many thousands of soldiers would be quite a spectacle, even today, and thus considered worthy both of being recorded in song and art, but also in realistic histories, as well as being a central element in a fictional work. Lastly, as evolved and empires grew, the increased need for order and efficiency lead to an increase in the number of records and writings. Officials and armies would have good reason for keeping detailed records and accounts involving any and all things concerning a matter such as warfare that in the words of was "a matter of vital importance to the state". For all these reasons, military history comprises a large part of ancient history. Notable militaries in the ancient world included the , ians, , Ancient (notably the ns and ians), (notably the s, s, s and ), Early Imperial (notably the and Dynasties), Confederation, Ancient , and . The of was the center of several prehistoric conquests. Mesopotamia was conquered by the ians, , ns, ns and Persians. ians were the first nation to introduce into their army. began growing as an ancient power, but eventually fell to the ns, ns, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, and s. The earliest recorded battle in was the . The and are centered on conflicts and refer to military formations, theories of warfare and esoteric weaponry. 's contains a detailed study on ancient warfare, including topics on and s. invaded Northwestern India and defeated in the . The same region was soon re conquered by after defeating the Macedonians and . He also went on to conquer the and unify Northern India. Most of Southern Asia was unified under his grandson after the , though the empire collapsed not long after his reign. In China, the and had risen and collapsed. This led to a , in which several states continued to fight with each other over territory. Philosopher-strategists such as and wrote various manuscripts on ancient warfare (as well as international diplomacy). The Warring States era philosopher ( ) and his followers invented various siege weapons and siegecraft, including the Cloud Ladder (a four-wheeled, extendable ramp) to scale fortified walls during a siege of an enemy city. The warring states were first unified by after a series of military conquests, creating the first empire in China. His was succeeded by the , which expanded into Central , Northern China/Manchuria, Southern China, and present day Korea and Vietnam. The Han came into conflict with settled people such as the , and proto-Vietnamese Nanyue. They also came into conflict with the ( ), , and other steppe civilizations. The Han defeated and drove the Xiongnus west, securing the city-states along the silk route that continued into the n Empire. After the decline of central imperial authority, the Han Dynasty collapsed into an era of civil war and continuous warfare during the period in the 3rd century AD. The Persian Empire was founded by after conquering the , , and . His successor went on to conquer the , much of Central Asia, and parts of Greece, India and Libya. The empire later fell to Alexander the Great after defeating . After being ruled by the Seleucid dynasty, the Persian Empire was subsequently ruled by the Parthian and dynasties, which were the 's greatest rivals during the . In , several s rose to power, including and . The Greeks successfully stopped two Persian invasions, the first at the , where the Persians were led by , and the second at the , a naval battle where the Greek ships were deployed by orders of and the Persians were under , and the land engagement of the . The then erupted between the two Greek powers Athens and Sparta. Athens built a long wall to protect its inhabitants, but the wall helped to facilitate the spread of a plague that killed about 30,000 Athenians, including . After a disastrous campaign against , the Athenian navy was decisively defeated by at the . The , underneath and Alexander the Great, invaded Persia and won several major victories, establishing Macedonia as a major power. However, following Alexander's death at an early age, the empire quickly fell apart. depicts a battle between and .}} Meanwhile, Rome was gaining power, following a rebellion against the . During the three , the Romans defeated the neighboring power of Carthage. The centered on . The started with 's invasion of Italy by crossing the . He famously won the encirclement at the . However, after invaded Carthage, Hannibal was forced to follow and was defeated at the , ending the role of Carthage as a power. After defeating Carthage the Romans went on to become the Mediterranean's dominant power, successfully campaigning in Greece, ( decisive victory over Macedonia at the ), in the Middle East ( , ), in ( ) and defeating several ( , ). While Roman armies suffered several major losses, their large population and ability (and will) to replace battlefield casualties, their training, organization, tactical and technical superiority enabled Rome to stay a predominant military force for several centuries, utilizing well trained and maneuverable armies to routinely overcome the much larger "tribal" armies of their foes (see Battles of , , , ). In 54 BC the Roman triumvir took the offensive against the in the east. In a decisive battle at Romans were defeated and the golden (legionary battle standards) were taken as trophies to . The battle was one of the worst defeats suffered by the Roman Republic in its entire history. While successfully dealing with foreign opponents, Rome experienced numerous civil wars, notably the power struggles of Roman generals such as Marius and during the end of the Republic. Caesar was also notable for his role in the civil war against the other member of the Triumvirate (Pompey) and against the Roman Senate. The successors of Caesar – Octavian and Mark Anthony, also fought a civil war with Caesar's assassins (Senators Brutus, Cassius, etc.). Octavian and Mark Anthony eventually fought another civil war between themselves to determine the sole ruler of Rome. Octavian emerged victorious and Rome was turned into an empire with a huge standing army of professional soldiers. By the time of , the Romans had expanded to the Atlantic Ocean in the west and to in the east and controlled Northern Africa and Central Europe up to the . However, Aurelius marked the end of the , and Rome quickly fell into decline. The s, , and other barbaric groups invaded Rome, which continued to suffer from and other internal strifes. Despite the attempts of , , and , western Rome collapsed and was eventually conquered in 476. The continued to prosper, however. Medieval warfare (1346) between the English and French in the .}} When came into use some time during the militaries were forever changed. This invention coupled with technological, cultural, and social developments had forced a dramatic transformation in the character of warfare from , changing military tactics and the role of and . Similar patterns of warfare existed in other parts of the world. In China around the 5th century armies moved from massed infantry to cavalry based forces, copying the s. The Middle East and North Africa used similar, if often more advanced, technologies than Europe. In Japan the Medieval warfare period is considered by many to have stretched into the 19th century. In Africa along the and states like the and employed Medieval tactics and weapons well after they had been supplanted in Europe. In the period, was firmly implanted, and there existed many landlords in Europe. Landlords often owned s to protect their territory. The Islamic began rapidly expanding throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia, initially led by , and later under the . While their attempts to invade Europe by way of the Balkans were by and , the Arabs expanded to the in the west and the in the east. The s then took over the Arab Empire, though the Umayyads remained in control of . At the , the under stopped short a Muslim invasion. The Abassids defeated the Chinese army at the , but were later defeated by the s and the centuries later, until the Arab Empire eventually came to an end after the in 1258. In China, the had risen and conquered the Chen Dynasty of the south. They invaded Vietnam (northern Vietnam had been in Chinese control since the Han dynasty), fighting the troops of , who had cavalry mounted on elephants. After decades of economic turmoil and a , the Sui collapsed and was followed by the Tang dynasty, who fought with various groups, the of , the , the , and collapsed due to political fragmentation of powerful regional military governors (jiedushi). The innovative followed next, inventing new weapons of war that employed the use of and (see section below) against enemies such as the . forces over the Muscovites at the in 1514}} The s under , , , and conquered most of Eurasia. They took over China, Persia, Turkestan, and Russia. After Kublai Khan took power and created the , the divisions of the empire ceased to cooperate with each other, and the Mongol Empire was only nominally united. In New Zealand, prior to European discovery, oral histories, legends and include many stories of battles and wars. warriors were held in high esteem. One group of migrated to the , where they developed the largely pacifist culture. Their pacifism left the Moriori unable to defend themselves when the islands were invaded by mainland Maori in the 1830s. They proceeded to massacre the Moriori and enslave the survivors. culture also developed in the isolated . During the 1780s and 1790s the chiefs and alii were constantly fighting for power. After a series of battles the Hawaiian Islands were united for the first time under a single ruler who would become known as . Gunpowder warfare , or against Spain}} After weapons were first developed in China (see also ), the technology later spread west to the , from where it spread to the of Persia and the of India. The was later adopted by European armies during the of the early 16th century. This all brought an end to the dominance of armored cavalry on the battlefield. The simultaneous decline of the feudal system – and the absorption of the medieval city-states into larger states – allowed the creation of professional standing armies to replace the and mercenaries that had been the standard military component of the Middle Ages. In Africa, , was the first African commander to use gunpowder on the continent in the , that lasted for fourteen years (1529–1543). The period spanning between the 1648 and the 1789 is also known as (Princes' warfare) as wars were mainly carried out by imperial or monarchics states, decided by cabinets and limited in scope and in their aims. They also involved quickly shifting alliances, and mainly used mercenaries. Over the course of the 18th-19th centuries all military arms and services underwent significant developments that included a more mobile , the transition from use of battalion in to open order formations and the transfer of emphasis from the use of to the rifle that replaced the musket, and virtual replacement of all types of cavalry with the universal , or . Military Revolution The Military Revolution is a conceptual schema for explaining the transformation of European military strategy, tactics and technology in the early modern period. The argument is the dramatic advances in technology, government finance, and public administration transformed and modernized European armies, tactics, and logistics. since warfare was so central to the European state, the transformation at a major impact on modernizing government bureaucracies, taxation, and the national economy. The concept was introduced by in the 1950s as he focused on . Roberts emphasized the introduction of muskets that could not be aimed at small targets, but could be very effective when fired in volleys by three ranks of infantry soldiers, with one firing while the other two ranks reloaded. All three ranks march forward to demolish the enemy. The infantry now had the firepower that had been reserved to the artillery, and had mobility that could rapidly advance in the battlefield, which the artillery lacked. the infantry thereby surpassed the artillery in tactical maneuvering on the battlefield. Roberts linked these advances with larger historical consequences, arguing that innovations in tactics, drill and doctrine by the Dutch and Swedes 1560–1660 led to a need for more and better trained troops and thus for permanent forces (standing armies). Armies grew much larger and more expensive. These changes in turn had major political consequences in the level of administrative support and the supply of money, men and provisions, producing new financial demands and the creation of new governmental institutions. "Thus, argued Roberts, the modern art of war made possible—and necessary—the creation of the modern state". In the 1990s the concept was modified and extended by , who argued that developments in fortification and siege warfare caused the revolution. The concept of a military revolution based upon technology has given way to models based more on a slow evolution in which technology plays a minor role to organization, command and control, logistics and in general non-material improvements. The revolutionary nature of these changes was only visible after a long evolution that handed Europe a predominant place in warfare, a place that the industrial revolution would confirm. The concept of a military revolution in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries has received a mixed reception among historians. Noted military historians Michael Duffy and have strongly criticised it as misleading, exaggerated and simplistic. Industrial warfare }} As weapons—particularly small arms—became easier to use, countries began to abandon a complete reliance on professional soldiers in favor of . Technological advances became increasingly important; while the armies of the previous period had usually had similar weapons, the industrial age saw encounters such as the , in which possession of a more advanced technology played a decisive role in the outcome. Conscription was employed in industrial warfare to increase the number of military personnel that were available for combat. Conscription was notably used by and the major parties during the two World Wars. was used in industrial warfare, the objective being to prevent the opposing nation to engage in war. Napoleon was the innovator. 's " " and 's burning of the during the were examples. On the largest scale the during was total warfare. Modern warfare Since the 1940s, preparation for a major war has been based on technological arms races involving all sorts of new weapons systems, such as nuclear and biological, as well as computerized control systems, and the opening of new venues, such as seen in the involving the United States, the Soviet Union, and more recently, China. Modern war also saw the improvement of technology. While tanks were present in the , and the , armored warfare technology came to a head with the start of the . Many of the technologies commonly seen on main battle tanks today, such as , , and , would be developed during this time. A distinctive feature since 1945 is the absence of wars between major powers--indeed the near absence of any traditional wars between established countries. The major exceptions were the , the 1980-1988, and the of 1990-91. Instead actual fighting has largely been a matter of civil wars and insurgencies. Information warfare As technology has advanced, the future is unknown as to how warfare will play out, yet it is quite evident that technology will play a significant role. The development of higher tech infantry weapons pose a greater danger as it allows for mobility and accuracy. With weapons being designed to attack exact targets from remote locations and not putting human lives at the battlefield, indicates how techonology has given First World countries the upper-hand. Nonetheless, an emergent battle on the Internet and communications has come under fire in many instances, which is another aspect of Informatin warfare. Notes and references Category:History of man